FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling out what he described as anti-ICE agitators "presenting" as grassroots organizations across the country Tuesday, urging a Justice Department investigation into what he said reporting suggests is actually a "coordinated national operation."
Hawley called for the investigation in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi obtained by Fox News Digital, saying there is evidence that the agitators are "substantially financed and professionally organized by wealthy left-wing organizations."
"Recent reporting indicates that these protests are neither spontaneous nor decentralized. Instead, they reflect a coordinated national operation supported by layered nonprofit pass-through entities, fiscal sponsorship arrangements, and short-lived 'grassroots' fronts designed to obscure donor identity, funding sources, and operational control," Hawley wrote.
"The scale, geographic simultaneity, messaging uniformity, and logistical sophistication of these operations strongly suggest centralized planning and financing inconsistent with lawful domestic advocacy," he continued.
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Hawley said that if foreign groups are linked to the alleged funding schemes it could violate "federal prohibitions on foreign influence." He argued such funding schemes could also amount to "racketeering."
"Given the public-safety and national-security implications, the Department's immediate attention is warranted. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice promptly open a full investigation into these funding networks," Hawley wrote.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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The letter comes as anti-ICE agitators have caused unrest across the country, including in Minneapolis, Portland, California and elsewhere.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Tuesday that federal investigators are uncovering a "massive underground fraud network" in Minneapolis that he suggested helped fuel a sudden, coordinated push to drive ICE out of the city.
"We had a massive fraud going on all through Minneapolis, all through Minnesota, and suddenly it turned. It turned almost on a dime, and it became suddenly all about ICE, all about getting ICE out and how horrible ICE was doing," Blanche said Monday on "The Ingraham Angle."
"[We had] very strong pushback when we raised our hands and said 'stop,' so, yes, we have multiple investigations going on."
Blanche also pointed to the financial dimensions of the case, noting that investigators are making "progress" in tracing funding streams connected to the alleged network. Blanche said unraveling those money trails is a priority for federal law enforcement, though he did not name specific individuals or sources.
"It's not something we're going to do overnight," he said, "But … it's not just [a] coincidence that these massive numbers of protesters and rioters and agitators show up at the same time, and they're pushing back on what has been a profit center for fraudsters."
